1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technique for testing a discharge component in a liquid discharge device.
2. Background Technology
An inkjet printer, which is a type of liquid discharge device, includes a plurality of discharge components for discharging ink. At each of these discharge components, ink is held in a cavity that communicates with a nozzle, and the ink is discharged from the nozzle by the drive of a drive element provided to the cavity. With the discharge components of such a liquid discharge device, if air bubbles become admixed into the ink in the cavity, or if the viscosity of the ink increases in the cavity, or if paper dust adheres to the nozzle, the nozzle can become clogged, and this can prevent the proper discharge of ink from the nozzle.
In the past, a technique has been proposed in which nozzle clogging (non-discharge state) in a discharge component is tested for on the basis of residual vibration remaining in the ink inside the cavity and caused by the drive of the drive element (see Patent Literature 1 and 2, for example).
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-130853 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-305992 (Patent Document 2) are examples of the related art.